Blog post written by Emily Bradfield (AHECRN Social Media Officer)
I was delighted to have the opportunity to attend the Arts in Health Research Intensive, presented by the University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine and the Arts Health Early Career Research Network, between the 29th January and 2nd February 2018.
If you’re wondering, as I did beforehand, what a ‘research intensive’ involves, well, it really is all in the name: five days of intensive learning and developing research skills – all within an Arts in Health context.
There were 30 delgates on the programme, from across the globe (England, Wales, Ireland, Uganda, Canada, Australia and the United States) and from a range of backgrounds, including researchers, practitioners, programme leaders and students.
Being in such a culturally diverse group meant for a rich assortment of perspectives and lenses through which to consider some of the critical issues for the field of arts in health.
We started each day with a creative activity which ranged from poetry to painting, singing to stress relievers! This was followed by detailed lectures and activities through which we explored all aspects of the field, from research methods and methodologies, to considering the physiological, social and behavioural impacts of the arts. Each day concluded with time for personal reflection.
We had the chance to learn about the theory but also had the chance to put each aspect of the programme into practice in a variety of imaginative ways, including designing our own arts-based public health campaign and arts in health project.
The whole programme was unlike any conference or lecture series I had been to before – we were all actively learning from one another, bringing our own insight, experience and creativity to the table. I feel so honoured to have been involved in such an inspiring programme and to have met so many lovely people – thank you everyone!
Thank you Emily for writing such an insightful blog post and sharing some of your images from the event. If you would be interested in writing a blog post about an AHECRN event please get in touch with Robyn (Blog editor).